The cops are about to swarm Occupy Oakland. I was just watching the Occupy Oakland live stream and it’s a really clear stream. As I was wondering how the person was pulling it off, he started to talk about it. He’s using a system called the Ustream Mobile Package. It load balances the stream over six mobile broadband modems on three carriers.

We shop at the local Mormon (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) cannery near Denver for wheat, pasta, nonfat dried milk and other bulk items. For those who didn't know, the Mormon canneries are open to non-members (at least for now) and the prices for bulk food goods is unbeatable. (See cannery locations). However, even this "products sold at cost" venue has experienced the ongoing inflation witnessed throughout our economy. (I grab an extra inventory sheet and date it whenever we visit, to keep track of prices). Here are some numbers:

November, 2010

November, 2011

Nonfat dry milk (25 lbs)

$35.40

$47.20

White rice (25 lbs)

$8.45

$13.00

Hard red wheat (25 lbs)

$6.35

$11.45

Quick oats (25 lbs)

$8.15

$15.95

Potato flakes (25 lbs)

$22.10

$33.30

The average price increase is 63%, with wheat and oats almost doubling in cost the past 12 months. The Mormon canneries still have the best bulk food prices I can find, but stock up now, as food prices continue to rise and the Mormon church may not always sell to non-LDS members.